Amylose is a simple chain of glucose molecules. Amylopectin is more complicated, taking the form of tree.
Malted barley has roughly 25% amylose and 75% amylopectin. I’ll get to the significance of reducing ends and non-reducing ends later in the post.
For the enzymes to work you need to activate them. This is done in warm water.
The temperature of that water determines which enzymes are brought to life, and what they do to your wort.
Enzymes
There are many enzymes in malt that take part in the mash.
However, rather than cover every eventuality and lose you in detail, the two I want to explain here are alpha-amylase and beta-amylase.
By focussing on these you’ll learn a simple rule of thumb that you can use to adapt your beer to your taste, or to suit the customs of a particular style.
Alpha-amylase
The first of these enzymes is alpha-amylase.